Background: Suscep???? bility of sickle cell disease subjects to various infec???? ous agents is on the increase, but informa???? on rela???? ng SCD to allergic condi???? on
is scarce. Hence, assessment of immunoglobulin status in SCD children may provide useful informa???? on to improve management of SCD children.
Objec???? ves: To determine the levels of immunoglobulin classes (IgG, IgA, IgM, and IgE) in Nigerian HbSS children below 5 years of age compared
with sex- and age-matched HbAA children.
Materials and Methods: Blood samples were collected from a total of 45 children less than 5 years of age who were recruited into the
study as follows: 26 HbSS and 19 HbAA subjects for the es???? ma???? on of serum immunoglobulin levels using enzyme-linked immunosorbent
assay (ELISA) techniques and determina???? on of genotype using electrophoresis technique.
Results: IgG concentration was nonsignificantly higher (P = 0.997) in HbSS children (1022.56 ± 148.97 ng/ml) compared to
HbAA children (933.68 ± 106.10 ng/ml). IgA (P = 0.906) and IgM (P = 0.986) concentrations were nonsignificantly lower in HbSS
children (255.07 ± 133.71 ng/ml) compared to HbAA children. IgE was signifi cantly higher (P = 0.000***) in HbSS (108.67 ± 69.22 IU/ml)
compared to HbAA (24.51 ± 17.58 IU/ml) children.
Conclusion: SCD children in steady state have adequate levels of Ig classes. Non-specifi c eleva???? on of IgE levels may be a factor of infl ammatory
response in SCD children, and this may be proposed for reduced allergic reac???? on among SCD children.
Key words: Allergic condi???? on, IgE, infl amma???? on, sickle cell disease